Tag Archives: System Collapse

Economics, The Mint

Central Banks Coordinate USD Funding actions, the final act of currency homogenization is underway

11/30/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

Living on the West Coast, there are two things which we take for granted here at The Mint.  First, that viewing Twitter is the quickest way to take a pulse of what is going on in the financial world.  Second, that we are, by virtue of our location, jumping into the financial news of the day when it is half over in New York and finished in Europe, allowing us not only to see the news but also the effect of the news on these markets.

With these two givens, we often pen our thoughts as a sort of digestion (or indigestion, as the case may be) of the events which are currently unfolding.  Such is the case today.

The Final Act

We’d barely had time to collect our scattered thoughts as news came that the final act of the tragedy that is the world’s financial system circa 2011 appears to be underway.  This morning, numerous tweets announcing that coordinated action amongst western central banks, specifically the Federal Reserve and its counterparts in Canada, Japan, Switzerland, and England, had been taken.  The action was taken to rush a fresh supply of cheap US Dollars to the ECB in time for the ECB to prevent a major European bank from imploding today.

Our guess is that the yet unnamed bank is BNP Paribas and by extension its many counterparties.  Any large French bank would be a candidate and we are just guessing that it would be the le grand chat.

The USD got torpedoed in coordinated action

As further evidence of the final act being underway, we see that the Federal Reserve suspended its POMO (Permanent Open Market Operation) for today until December 2nd.  Not coincidentally, this latest operation was to withdraw liquidity from the US dollar system on a day on which apparently the system was calling for more.

To simplify what has happened for our fellow taxpayers we offer the following executive summary:  Today is the final day of a calendar month, a day when accounts must be settled.  A large bank in the Euro zone did not have enough US Dollars with which to pay back its short term loans to other banks.  It turned to the ECB, which did not have enough US Dollars to backstop the large bank.  The ECB, then turned to the Federal Reserve, which quickly shifted gears from suck to blow and confirmed, once again, that it will print money any time there is a liquidity crunch, anywhere in the western world.

The FED will now wait until the dust settles on December 2nd to see how much liquidity it can withdraw from the system without imploding it.  To them we say: good luck.

As longsuffering Mint readers are already aware, a debt based currency regime, which is erroneously referred to as a monetary system, relies on the infinite creation of debt along with its continued acceptance in place of money proper in order for the game to continue.  Once either of those conditions ceases to exist, it indicates that a majority no longer have confidence in the currency regime.  In other words, the currency regime has failed.

The western central banks appear to momentarily have their streams crossed, and in a pointless effort to homogenize interest (and by extension foreign exchange) rates, will increasingly take this sort of “coordinated action” until their currencies act and trade as one. 

A JP Morgan note on this most recent coordinated action highlights the fact that the Federal Reserve not only will lend dollars to these Central Banks at a discount, the foreign Central Banks will in turn lend their respective currencies to the Federal Reserve at a discount on demand.  This gives further credence to the fact that the system has already failed and is in retreat, with the Central Banks themselves left passing their currencies and credits amongst themselves and their member banks.

Once this is homogenization process is complete; a severe devaluation of the homogenized currency will take place which will leave any holder or the homogenized currency(s) as a savings device substantially poorer and the holders of real assets better off on a relative basis.

However, on balance, the world as a whole grows poorer every day that the centralized currency regime is allowed to continue its violently enforced monopoly on currency issuance.

Money proper was never meant to be centralized and controlled by a single entity, and the current system which engenders this centralization is exploding before our very eyes.  Yet it will not go without a fight.  Recent events in the Middle East and Iran indicate that yet another physical fight to expand this failed system may be at hand.

It is a further expression of the Might Makes Right ideology, and it is time to pray for the peace of Israel.

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for November 30, 2011

Copper Price per Lb: $3.56
Oil Price per Barrel:  $100.17

Corn Price per Bushel:  $6.01  
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  2.07%
FED Target Rate:  0.08%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!

Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,747 PERMANENT UNCERTAINTY

MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  2.00%
Unemployment Rate:  9.0%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  -0.1%
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  12,046  

M1 Monetary Base:  $2,095,600,000,000 RED ALERT!!!  THE ANIMALS ARE LEAVING THE ZOO!!!
M2 Monetary Base:  $9,664,500,000,000 YIKES UP $1 Trillion in one year!!!!!!!

Economics, The Mint

If the FED is the only Lender of US Dollars, the System has Collapsed

10/4/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

The dust is beginning to settle after what must have been a tense weekend for bank execs on both sides of the Atlantic.  We can only imagine that banks pulled out all the stops to somehow make their numbers for the third quarter end.  In a practical sense this meant putting the stranglehold on equity and commodity positions and hanging on to dollars with all their might.

The vacuum action in the dollar funding markets was so extreme that at one point it was rumored that US dollar funding for banks in Europe was apparently non-existent.  We speculated that banks were holding on to cash in the absence of clear direction from the Eurozone as to how they intend to bail out their large institutions and governments.

The action looks like a sumo wrestling battle royal on the edge of a cliff.

The FED came to the rescue and re- opened its swap lines with European banks to provide dollars and avoid widespread panic.  According to a report that we saw from Bloomberg, the FED had gone from its role as the lender of last resort to a role as the lender of ONLY resort.

We left off with a question which we will consider today:

Does the fact that the FED is the only institution willing to lend dollars indicate that the US Dollar system has technically collapsed?

On the surface, it would appear that the evidence points to just the opposite.  The US Dollar index has gone through the roof which would indicate a preference for dollars, making them more valuable.  Doesn’t this prove that the US Dollar is alive and well?

Bernanke Readies his Helicopters

Were the Dollar backed by something real, the above would be true.  However, in the current, insane, “Debt is Money” currency regime, it tells us quite the opposite.  The fact that the Federal Reserve, the creator of the current version of the US Dollar, is the only institution willing to lend said Dollars is in fact evidence that the system has failed.

It has failed because it is no longer self sustaining.  The willingness to take on new debt, which is the life blood of a debt based currency regime, is non-existent.  The usurers need fresh blood in order to sustain themselves and finding no new victims, are beginning to feed on each other.

Financial Institutions are attempting to hoard dollars on a net basis.  Instead of lending them to productive enterprises, they are paying down their dollar denominated liabilities.  In other words, the productive classes have begun to shun the dollar on a net basis and the ultra leveraged financial sector is beginning to vaporize as the productive debts are cancelled.

Financial institutions see this vaporization taking place at their counterparties and are unwilling to extend them credit on any terms.  The financial institutions which cannot meet their day to day funding requirements then turn to the Federal Reserve to lend them the Dollars necessary to meet their commitments.

The inter day funding action has, in effect, become a high stakes game of musical chairs.

While musical chairs is fun to watch, it is not evidence in and of itself of the collapse.  The evidence of the collapse emerges as we fix our gaze on the logical end of this vicious feedback loop.  The logical end is this:  The Federal Reserve ends up holding every worthless paper asset on the planet on its balance sheet which theoretically backs the dollars which it is emitting in exchange.  The banks, which are left with the dollars as their own “paper asset” and the Federal Reserve are left with staggering liabilities which they pass back and forth as investors, businesses, and consumers increasingly shun their paper.

For the moment, the world may have reached a peak in monetization, and the FED’s money machine is now backing up as the sewage of every bad loan on the planet begins to flood their balance sheet.

It is getting ugly.  How ugly?  So ugly that Bank of America’s website has been down for three straight days, presumably for technical reasons but avoiding an online bank run and forcing customers to pay $8 to bank at the branches come to mind as compelling technical reasons for a website failure.

Meanwhile, Europe is having their own “TARP moment” as Slovakian resistance is sure to be swiftly dealt with.  We know where that will lead.

Yes, the end of the insane system is approaching.  It won’t be long now until the authorities pull out their ultimate trump card, a wholesale change of the currency.  With nearly every government and bank on the planet heading to the poorhouse, it is the only trick that the currency regime has left.

Don’t fall for it, fellow taxpayer, for it too shall fail.

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for October 4, 2011

Copper Price per Lb: $3.05
Oil Price per Barrel:  $78.31

Corn Price per Bushel:  $5.88  
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  1.78%
FED Target Rate:  0.08%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!

Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,624 PERMANENT UNCERTAINTY

MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  2.00%
Unemployment Rate:  9.1%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.4%!!!   UP UP UP!!!
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  11,011  

M1 Monetary Base:  $2,052,100,000,000 RED ALERT!!!
M2 Monetary Base:  $9,511,300,000,000 YIKES!!!!!!!

Economics, Gold, Silver, The Mint

Reports of the FED as “Only” Lender of US Dollars, The Definition of a System Collapse

9/28/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

We have taken a small breather here at The Mint.  What has occurred in the past week simply boggles the mind.  Precious metals have taken a beating and it is our guess that they will continue through tomorrow.  The most interesting reasoning for the drop in Gold and Silver that we have heard is that there will be an announcement on October 4th limiting short positions on the COMEX.

Guess who has a huge short position in silver that needs to be covered this week?  JP Morgan, to the tune of 121 million ounces.  We can only guess at the machinations but needless to say, it would be very convenient for them to be able to cover their positions at a discount.  Hence the increase in margin requirements at the COMEX last Friday which has shaken out the weak long positions this week.

Across the board in commodities, current prices reflect a rush to cash, not changing fundamentals.

Some interesting reading on the current, sorry state of employment in the US from US News:

15 Stunning Statistics About the Job Market

It is much worse than most imagine.

Other than that, chaos is reigning as the dollar funding markets for banks in Europe are apparently non-existent.  As September 30, 2011 approaches, banks are holding on to cash in the absence of clear direction from the Eurozone as to how they intend to bail out their large institutions.

In the meantime, the FED has apparently opened up swap lines (read printing presses) to provide dollars to these banks.  According to a report that we saw from Bloomberg, the FED has gone from its role as the lender of last resort to a role as the lender of ONLY resort.

We take this to mean that nobody is willing to lend US Dollars at any price to the largest banking institutions in the world.

Does this indicate that, at long last, the US Dollar system has technically collapsed?

Stay tuned and Trust Jesus.

Stay Fresh!

David Mint

Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com

Key Indicators for September 28, 2011

Copper Price per Lb: $3.21
Oil Price per Barrel:  $79.95

Corn Price per Bushel:  $6.30  
10 Yr US Treasury Bond:  2.00%
FED Target Rate:  0.08%  ON AUTOPILOT, THE FED IS DEAD!

Gold Price Per Ounce:  $1,610 PERMANENT UNCERTAINTY

MINT Perceived Target Rate*:  2.00%
Unemployment Rate:  9.1%
Inflation Rate (CPI):  0.4%!!!   UP UP UP!!!
Dow Jones Industrial Average:  11,011  

M1 Monetary Base:  $2,010,000,000,000 RED ALERT!!!
M2 Monetary Base:  $9,541,800,000,000 YIKES!!!!!!!